Button-fastener



,(NG Moriel.)

S. L. PRATT.

BUTTON FASTENER.

No. 278,734. Patented June 5,1883. v

Fig-1- I Fig- 2 Fig.5

Fig. 3

whisk-355:5 INVENTDR fiw/f/- 57 Jim. 51 ix/6 N. PETERS. Pholwl-Mwgnphar. Wanhinflon. QC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL L. PRATT, or HINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

BUTTON-FASTENER.

SPEGIFICATIONfOrming' part of Letters Patent No. 278,734, dated June 5, 1883.

Application filed February 28, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMTUEL L. PRATT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Hing ham, in the county of Plymouth and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Button-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

. My invention relates to an improvement in the construction of button-fasteners for securing buttons to boots, shoes, and other articles of apparel, the object of my invention being to produce a fastener easily manipulated, having a plate or table on the other side from that on which the button is, the plate presenting a smooth and finished surface to protect the wearing-apparel underneath, and having a hook which holds the button so situated that the outward pulling on the button exerts an equal'force on every part of the plate to insure a smooth bearing of the plate.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the metal blank out of which I form my improved fastener. Fig. 2

is an elevation of the same, showing by the dotted lines how the hook of thefastener is punched out. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the fastener, showing the plate and the hook ready to be tumbled. Fig. 4 is a perspective view, showing the improved fastener tumbled and hook pointed or finished ready for use. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the same, showing the point of the hook.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in all the figures.

The fastener consists of the plate b and the hook a, the hook a being provided with a point, 0. The blank shown in Fig. 1 is made by machinery by a process similar to that of making a rivet. The hook to is then punched out, and a blank is produced, (shown in Fig. 3,) which is then tumbled and swaged to produce the finished fastener shown in Fig. 4. The hook a is curved sufficiently toward the plate I) so that when any pressure is brought to bear upon the point cit will take a particular direction down to and upon the plate b.

The manner in which this invention is used and its mode of operation I have fully described in an application for Letters Patent of the United States, for an improvement in setting-instruments for attaching buttons, of even date herewith.

The hook of the'fastener is pointed at c to allow the same to pass easily through the material to which the button is to be attached, making the hole at the same time with its pas sage. After the hook is passed through the material the eye or shank of the button is placed over the hook, and the hook is bent, by pressure exerted on the point 0, down to the material, and at the same time the point 0 is flattened by this pressure. The plate b, after this operation, rests snugly against the under side of the fabric, and the hook a is curled or. bent down to the upper side of the fabric, securely holding the button. This operation I readily perform with the instrument above named.

I preferably make the fastener out of steel but the same can be made of brass or any suitable material.

The shape of my fastener is such that theinstrument with which it is attached does not re quire to have any clinching-surface, as is the case where the shank of the nail is perfectly straight and must be curled over to hold the button. The shape of my fastener is such that pressure alone upon the point 011 the convex side of the shank of the fastener is required to attach the button.

I am aware that button-fasteners composed of a plate adapted to lie on the under ,side of the material to which the fastener is applied, with a hook or loop attached to said plate, are not new, and fasteners thus constructed have been passed through slots in the leather or cloth, and, after being so passed through, the button is passed into the fiat shank and the free end of the shank has been clamped down; and. that fasteners have been made which are adapted to be turned in the slot in the leather orcloth, so as to bring their free end over the surface of the cloth, and thus clamped down to firmly grip the cloth. I am not aware that any button-fastener composed of a fiat plate of metal, with a hook or loop attached to said,v plate, and having a point on the convex side button, and then to be clamped down upon the inner face of the disk or head; but I desire to limit my claim hereunder to the specific device shown and described, and adapted to operate in the manner and for the purposes particularly set forth.

The advantage of my invention over all others is the extreme simplicity of the fastener, and the fact that the button is held firmly in place by a fastening which does not tend to break the leather, and which gives a finished and ornamental look to the under side of the leather or other fabric.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A button-fastener having the hook a, provided with the point 0, and the plate 6, constructed and operated substantially as described.

I11 witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

SAMUEL L. PRATT. Vitnesses HARVEY H. PRATT, WM. T. GILBERT. 

